We have had other RV's and people forget that these are traveling houses
with the maintenance problems and expenses of a powerful 6 ton [or
more]vehicle plus a house. That is why you see a lot of RV's sitting, be
they GMC or SOB. They cost more to maintain than the family car that they
are used to. If you don't use them, then they are very expensive to keep up
for the few miles that they are driven, be it GMC or SOB. Add the weather,
time decay and corrosion to a poorly maintained vehicle and it can become
very unreliable on the road. Cost to operate and maintain an RV is in
dollars per ton. The more it weighs, the more it cost to operate.
But, if you want to travel, going by RV allows you to see the most per buck
of any other method. We enjoy the freedom, adventure and independence of RV
travel. How else do you get to the small towns and history of America. We
looked at a lot of new and used converted trucks and busses verses the cost
to rebuild our existing truck based RV and chose to rebuild a small GMC
into a luxury cruiser. It has proven to be a lot more comfortable and
enjoyable to travel in as well as less expensive to operate than larger RV's.
We purchased a gutted a 77 23' GMC last December that had been sitting for
over 5 years here in San Diego [no rust]. It had 82,000 on the odometer.
The GMC mechanic that rebuilt/replaced the suspension system said that
82,000 was probably the true milage. The generator, motor and generator
worked fine but a lot of stuff was replaced or repaired as preventive
maintenance. Our new interior was done last winter and then we spent 9,000
miles touring the east coast with our grandsons. This winter the outside
gets done and we are planning taking off in May and touring the north from
Washington to Nova Scotia. That looks like another 15,000 miles so our
odometer will restart at 0 somewhere along the way. We have friends who
spent last summer from May through November touring the east and they had
no problems over their 20,000 mile trip. If you see a 26' with a restored
model A as a tow car, that's him. He is an old fighter pilot and maintains
his GMC [and model A]in the same manner as he did his airplane. He has
never had his GMC leave him stranded in over 230,000 miles they have
traveled. Preventive maintenance looks expensive until something fails
while on the road, then it is comparatively cheap. An airplane is in even
more serious trouble when something fails in flight.
We look at our GMC as our summer home, except we move it from place to
place to be in the best place during the best season.
Chuck Botts, "R YCHT" Retired in San Diego, Ca., our winter home.
with the maintenance problems and expenses of a powerful 6 ton [or
more]vehicle plus a house. That is why you see a lot of RV's sitting, be
they GMC or SOB. They cost more to maintain than the family car that they
are used to. If you don't use them, then they are very expensive to keep up
for the few miles that they are driven, be it GMC or SOB. Add the weather,
time decay and corrosion to a poorly maintained vehicle and it can become
very unreliable on the road. Cost to operate and maintain an RV is in
dollars per ton. The more it weighs, the more it cost to operate.
But, if you want to travel, going by RV allows you to see the most per buck
of any other method. We enjoy the freedom, adventure and independence of RV
travel. How else do you get to the small towns and history of America. We
looked at a lot of new and used converted trucks and busses verses the cost
to rebuild our existing truck based RV and chose to rebuild a small GMC
into a luxury cruiser. It has proven to be a lot more comfortable and
enjoyable to travel in as well as less expensive to operate than larger RV's.
We purchased a gutted a 77 23' GMC last December that had been sitting for
over 5 years here in San Diego [no rust]. It had 82,000 on the odometer.
The GMC mechanic that rebuilt/replaced the suspension system said that
82,000 was probably the true milage. The generator, motor and generator
worked fine but a lot of stuff was replaced or repaired as preventive
maintenance. Our new interior was done last winter and then we spent 9,000
miles touring the east coast with our grandsons. This winter the outside
gets done and we are planning taking off in May and touring the north from
Washington to Nova Scotia. That looks like another 15,000 miles so our
odometer will restart at 0 somewhere along the way. We have friends who
spent last summer from May through November touring the east and they had
no problems over their 20,000 mile trip. If you see a 26' with a restored
model A as a tow car, that's him. He is an old fighter pilot and maintains
his GMC [and model A]in the same manner as he did his airplane. He has
never had his GMC leave him stranded in over 230,000 miles they have
traveled. Preventive maintenance looks expensive until something fails
while on the road, then it is comparatively cheap. An airplane is in even
more serious trouble when something fails in flight.
We look at our GMC as our summer home, except we move it from place to
place to be in the best place during the best season.
Chuck Botts, "R YCHT" Retired in San Diego, Ca., our winter home.
